A man allegedly went on a rampage in Union Square on Wednesday afternoon that left a complete stranger critically hurt, reports CBS New York.

Jeffrey Babbitt, a 62-year-old retired train conductor, was walking through the crowd near tables set up with chess boards when the suspect in the attack - 31-year-old Lashawn Marten - shouted a racial comment before hitting Babbitt in the head.

"He said 'The next white person who walks by, I'm going to [expletive],'" one female witness told WCBS-TV. "His fist went in and the man's head bobbed and he hit the ground and you could hear his skull hitting the ground."

The man continued his rampage before demanding to see police officers.

"He stood there and hit two more people and asked for the police to come," Michael Benson said.

Marten, who is apparently homeless, was watching people play chess in the park and reportedly complained that nobody wanted to play chess with him prior to the attack, according to 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria.

Police are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime, according to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.